Swords and Stupidity

Dungeon

I waited, watching them and listening curiously. Clearly I was doing something wrong with my territory. That confused me, and I wondered what was wrong. I was expanding like I was supposed to, it had lot's of magic in it, and I didn't know what else to do, or where else to go with the knowledge that I was doing something wrong. Honestly, the only idea I had was that they'd mentioned how thin my territory was, but... What did that even mean?

I continued watching, and listened to them fight, slowly figuring out their group dynamic as they went along. Honestly, it was rather interesting, and the odd part was how the women seemed to be the most dominant ones. That wasn't how things normally were in my world. 

It was an interesting shift in dynamic, and the men seemed to need to catch up in some cases. Of course, part of that might've been because the girls had higher intelligence scores than the men. Which... well, I had personally found that that was common in my world, but here? It surprised me. Then again, I didn't really know much about this place, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. At least they weren't acting like idiots- just slower-than-average people. 

I kept watching, and tried to access their personal information. I was surprised when it actually came up. 

Name: Valentine Pyre

Age: 24

Gender: Female

lvl. 21 Human Witch (Female equivalent of wizard class)

Stats:

Str. 10 (Below average, wow...)

Dex. 23 (Wow... not bad...)

Agl. 30 (Probably forced into this.)

Cons. 15

Int. 45 (she's specializing in magic, so... obviously?)

Wis. 35 (Also not surprising, as she is a witch...)

Char. 20 (Born lucky, I see...)

Luck 45 (That's normal... luck is a percentage in humans. So, she's lucky 45% of the time. Whether that's good luck or bad luck... well, it's a lower value, so normally bad luck. Poor girl. )

Fth. 0 (Sweet mercy... she's untouchable! By gods or demons! At least, when it comes to magical influence...)

Skills: Feminine Wiles lvl. 3, Leader lvl. 2, Fire Apprentice lvl. max, Flame Adept lvl. 5, Pyre Master lvl. 1, Identify lvl. max, Divine Dispelling lvl. max, etc*... 

(etc*, in this case, means that the rest of the skills aren't related to dungeons or adventuring. Skills like reading, counting, or pancake flipping fall under this, and anything obscene is automatically deleted. Except Feminine Wiles, because I'm just dying to see you get that. XD)

Abilities: Child of Fire, Flickering in the Depths. 

(Abilities work differently for mortals than for dungeons. Mortal races receive between one and four abilities when they are born, and these are unique benefits or curses that are passive, and cannot be learned. You are born with these- though a dungeon can circumvent this... 

Child of Fire: can learn and cast any fire-related spell for 50% less mana with 50% more effectiveness, regardless of level or ability to read/listen/ etc...

Flickering in the Depths: allows one to see in the dark, and always remain calm- cannot be affected by any ailment that comes from darkness or the depths, except drowning. While underground, are immune to exhaustion, hunger, dehydration, and even death- though you can still die if not properly healed before reaching above-ground areas.)

Mana: 4500/4500

Mp regen: 15.75 per sec. 

Stamina: 100%

(All of the above work differently for mortals than they do for you. You have no stamina, Mp regen is tied to your territory density, not your wisdom, and Mana is tied to the size and density of your territory.)

Humans receive six points per level instead of the usual four, allowing them to specialize far more efficiently than other races. 

I was mildly surprised, but I also enjoyed the sight. This kind of stat-peeking could be useful... But whatever plans I made would have to wait for later. Right now they were leaving the crystal caverns, and I needed to keep track of this interesting group. In fact... I wondered if there was a way to talk to them?

I could ask them so many questions! Find out so much! And... they'd know for certain I was sentient. Not that that matters, but I could see problems happening with it if I wasn't careful. Honestly, I mean... So much could go so wrong... was it even worth it?

Probably not... not yet, anyways. Maybe once I was more well-defended and when ANGEL explained how I could. They'd explore for now. They were saying something again, and... that actually threw me for a loop. It actually could explain a few things and give me some interesting possibilities... Oh wait, maybe not... They were heading down the sword path. Why weren't they listening to the elf girl?

______

Stephan

I sighed, watching as the group bickered. Auriel was determined to go down the faith path, and she was getting incredibly annoying. However, if this was a light-celestial dungeon, then that was going to be the most dangerous, and potentially deadly path in this whole place. Honestly... she really didn't have any sense. 

Valentine was looking at the orb again as we walked, inspecting it and trusting in me and Alcor to keep watch. I appreciated the confidence, but that really wasn't the best idea. I don't think anyone has ever managed to see a dungeons actual stats before- not it's cores stats, at least. The first thing a dungeon did when it arrived was summon a dungeon fairy- then it's first troops. 

A dungeon fairy could look like anything, but it normally looked like... well... a fairy- and the thing these fairies normally did was enchant the dungeon with stat distortion. That was a god-level spell that not even the gods could break, so there was no chance in heaven, on earth, or in any of the many hells, that Val could read the stupid gems stats.

"Guys? I can read it's stats..." I felt like someone had kicked me in the gut, and not a normal drop kick either- more like someone was trying to punt me to one of the moons. We all stared at her, horrified and uneasy. That shouldn't have been possible...

"How is that even possible?" Alcor spoke, and Auriel looked at him for half a second- just enough time for me to see that she had been thinking the same thing. He had just beaten her to the punch. Val shook her head, very clearly feeling off-balance. 

"I don't know... but that means it doesn't have a dungeon fairy. All of this was built by the person who made it, unless dungeons can do this without a fairies help... in which case, much of what we know about dungeons is completely wrong... They aren't just the maintaining force of a wild dungeon, or the building force that constructs them... They're also the mind behind their construction." 

That sobered all of us into worry-mode. If the dungeons we had 'tamed' didn't need guidance to craft a new floor for their dungeons... how many of them had built further down and made more floors for their dungeons? How many-

I was forced to stop my thoughts as I saw something ahead and ducked a sword thrust- shoving a dagger pulled from my belt into the demons gut. Wait... a demon? But this was a light celestial dungeon, not a dark one... I backed up, shouting in pain as I felt something bit on my leg. Looking down, I saw the demon had gotten something shoved through my calf, barely missing the achilles tendon... it's tail maybe? Normally that would be enough demonic influence to kill a person in hours...

I slashed with the dagger and cut the tail off, immediately moving to block the demons sword. "Demons!" The group should already be aware of it, but they hadn't done anything- maybe out of shock. The moment I shouted however, the element of surprise- a literal skill that freezes up opponents without a similar skill- was broken, and suddenly an arrow sprouted from the forehead of the beast, dropping it and letting me catch my breath. 

"I doubt that was the last one... Fall back." Val had a grim look on her face, and seemed like she was ready to do something drastic. I swore, and tried to take a step, only to shout in pain as the leg the demon had hit instantly seemed to burn like fire. Or acid. I dropped and grabbed my leg, trying to find the piece of the tail I'd forgotten about and pull it out. I looked down and- to my horror- saw it wriggling inside of me. 

I watched- along with the rest, as it forced it's way through my body- the element of surprise catching me too, since I was in too much pain to resist it-  and did... something, around my waist. I grimaced, and then pulled out my 'demonic inheritance'. Any items bound to your soul, if they can be passed on, are called an inheritance- and I was praying these ones would help somehow. 

Funnily enough, they did. Unfortunately, I didn't like the pop-up I got. 

Due to extreme amounts of demonic essence in your system, and thanks to already having demonic essence tied to your soul, you have integrated the demonic tail into your demonic inheritance. You now gain a demonic tail and aura when demonic inheritance is summoned and a total immunity to death via demon essence. You may also now integrate any demonic items into your inheritance upon finding them, though these will be permanent additions. 

Skill gained: Unholy Binding. 

Ability developed: Lord of Chaos.

Oh... this was wonderful. Absolutely, and completely wonderful... I almost asked how I'd get the tail, since I couldn't feel it and didn't want it. 'Luckily' for me, my question was answered before it was asked, by a special little spike of pure agony as it ripped through the skin at the spot where my tail-bone stopped, then forcibly connected to the bone and gave me a new limb. 

I shuddered when it was over, my back and lower legs bloody and bleeding, while my friends watched silently. Then Alcor moved and picked me up, silently heading back from where we came. Val and Auriel followed, not questioning him. He kept walking, and eventually turned into the faith cavern. By then, I was feeling less pain, and more of an ache- which meant I was either healing faster, or not long for this world. 

This dungeon had demons and angels at the same time... that made no sense. Light celestial dungeons and dark celestial dungeons were opposites, and having that as your dungeon type made having the other one impossible so far as we knew... There should've been no possible way for them to coexist... unless this dungeons creator had found a way? What kind of unholy... no... what kind of monstrously powerful wizard could do that? Could a wizard even do that? 

I was silent this whole time, somehow too exhausted to even move my head from off of Alcor's chest where he'd placed it. I know that the girls probably thought it was adorable, but considering we were both men, and we both liked girls- not to mention we were just in a fight and hadn't stopped to wash up for most of the day... The smell was less than pleasant. Of course, it could've been the weird things that happen to orc skin when human blood gets on it. That always smelled awful...

Soon Val spoke up, and I focused on her. "Stephan... I don't think you n-need to keep that aura going..." I remembered the aura after she mentioned it, willing my inheritance to fade, which instantly caused me even more pain as the tail became a tattoo that spiraled down my leg. I didn't know how I knew that, but I did and it hurt. How Alcor hadn't even flinched at my aura when the girls had noticed it and were several feet back was a mystery to me. 

"Thank you... are you alright?" They were right to be wary, I had been stabbed by a demon's body part, and then that had become a part of me. If we'd all been as on-guard as we should've been, we would've been fine- if we'd kept going, the others would've handled the other demons probably down that path with ease. However, that was not happening- because they were taking care of me. 

I actually felt touched because of it, and also bad because we'd likely have to head home after this if we couldn't kill all the demons. Honestly, I didn't know if I felt alright. I'd just been forced to become some kind of demonic humanoid, and I wasn't sure if I was okay with this latest addition- I still didn't know it's stats, or what it would do to me, and that terrified me. 

"I think so, Val... Auriel? Can you sense anything... demonic, inside of me?" I was scared to ask, worried I'd be told yes and have to kill myself. Because that would be the least painful way to go, if anyone found out about my new inheritance. The idea of someone having such an inheritance and passing it down to their children was... uncomfortable, to anyone who knew anything about demons. Though... the Kitsune might not be  as bloodthirsty as rest.

Auriel was silent for a moment, then sounded oddly relieved. "No... I can't. But even better, you have a slightly holy aura." I grimaced. That was almost as bad as a demonic aura... she saw my face and grinned, clarifying. "Not angelic, actually holy! Only people who have overcome one of the two greatest evils in the world get that- so there isn't any chance that anyone would believe you had a demonic aspect in any way. Think about it- you and Alcor killed a demon. A weak one, but a demon none-the-less. You, however, had to deal with the tail, and Alcor didn't." 

I could hear excitement in her voice, and Alcor seemed a bit down-hearted. Honestly, if I wasn't able to see his face, I'd never have known. Poor guy was hearing his friend be praised by his crush while he wasn't considered in her excitement. Imagining if Val did the same to Alcor for a moment, I could suddenly sympathize. I looked down, regretting the praise. Alcor suddenly stopped, and I panicked, wondering if we were about to hear Alcor begin freaking out. 

Instead, I heard a whimper. Looking back up at him, I prayed he wouldn't cry, only to see he was staring ahead. Following his gaze, I let out an almost pitiful, shaky, squeaking attempt to get the girls attention. They immediately moved to defend us, but froze when they saw it, Auriel letting out a string of elvish curses and Val whistling softly. Out of all of us, I still had no clue how or why she was always so fearless around things involving the gods or the devil. 

After all, right in front of us was a temple-city to an unknown god... which meant that the people or person who built this place weren't of the known races, and we didn't know how active their god still was.